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Tactical Insertion is an equipment in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and is unlocked at level 11. It takes a few seconds for the Tactical Insertion to activate after hitting the "equipment" button. It can be deactivated by enemy players by hitting the "interact" button near the Tactical Insertion or by shooting at it. The Tactical Insertion appears as a handheld flare, appearing with green light to friendlies, red light to enemies. A crosshair-like chevron (V) is shown when the Tactical Insertion is being placed, and points in the direction the player respawning will face.

Tactical Insertions can be useful in objective game modes such as Domination or Demolition as the player can respawn near objectives, saving the player the time and effort to run across the map, which can possibly prevent enemies from capturing objectives or planting/defusing a bomb. However, placing a Tactical Insertion takes some time and can delay one's assault. Also, using a Tactical Insertion means that one has to give up another, possibly more lethal equipment, such as C4 or Semtex. The Tactical Insertion is useless in Search and Destroy as the player cannot respawn. Another downside of the Tactical Insertion is that spawn killing a Tactical Insertion user is made very easy as an enemy can simply wait for the player to spawn and quickly dispatch them without the player having any time to react.

"Drop-zone beacon that allows you to place your next spawn point. Unavailable in Free-for-All game modes."

— Create-a-Class 2.0 description

The Tactical Insertion returns, but this time the player can cancel the insertion between lives to discourage Tactical Insertion spawn camping. In addition, it is now unusable in the Free-For-All game mode to prevent boosting.

Placing the Tactical Insertion is less audible than in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The beacon flashes red to enemies, but green to allies, once per second and has a fairly large area. In addition, it emits a low beep with every flash, making it easier to find. However, many players may mistake it for being part of the scenery, as many maps have flashing lights, therefore making it much less distinct than the bright flare in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The "cancel spawn" feature is very useful if the player suspects that an enemy is ready to spawn kill them on their Tactical Insertion. As well, it is also useful to use the feature if the Tactical Insertion is in a spot the player no longer favors, usually due to action shifting away from the area the Tactical Insertion is.

Tactical Insertions are best used in objective game modes or with short range weapons. Tactical Insertions used in this sense are invaluable in helping the player shorten the gap to critical points, such as bombsites, flag sites, and close quarter areas. In Black Ops, they are best placed in obscure or rarely used portions of the maps in order to hide them from players who attempt to spawn kill Tactical Insertion users. The red flashing and the beep are very easy to detect if placed in an exposed position. To prevent suspicion of Tactical Insertions from the enemy, it may be wise to use different routes with each life.

Tactical Insertions can still be destroyed by any enemy player by hitting the "interact" button in its vicinity, or by explosives. Shooting or knifing them is also possible. Flashbangs, Concussion Grenades and Nova Gas can also destroy them.

The Tactical Insertion is unlocked at level 61 in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer. It is identical to the Tactical Insertion in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. However, it is found in the special grenade slot. The time used to prepare the Tactical Insertion is also the same although it can be shortened with the PerkQuickdraw Pro.

Unlike the Call of Duty: Black Ops version of the Tactical Insertion, it is usable in Free-For-All modes again, and cannot be canceled so the player will always spawn on the insertion, oftentimes if placed in an area with multiple enemies, could lead to a second death.

The Tactical Insertion also appears in the game mode Infected. It is used by the infected players. It can be very useful to use as the player can plant it near enemies in one position.

The Tactical Insertion appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. It is much more visible than in previous games, generating a tall red or green beam above itself. It can still be smashed by standing over an enemy one and pressing the action key. Like the Call of Duty: Black Ops version, the player can cancel their planted Tactical Insertion in the killcam/respawn menu, and to prevent boosting, it cannot be used in the Free-For-All game mode. A friendly's Tactical Insertion will have a green beam above it and an enemy's Tactical Insertion will have a red beam.

The Tactical Insertion returns in Call of Duty: Ghosts, exclusively to the Infected game mode. It was removed outside of this to prevent boosting. The Tactical Insertion, like in Call of Duty: Modern Wafare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, appears in the form of an emergency flare, but looks slightly different. It is very useful in Infected as it can be placed near where the survivors are and so they can swarm their position.

In Private Matches, it can be equipped exclusively by the infected when playing Infected mode by leaving the Tactical Equipment slot empty.

During the Alpha phases of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2s multiplayer, it was going to be a green/red glow-stick, not a flare. Proof of this can be seen in Robert Bowling's (fourzerotwo) Twitter account during later Q&A sessions and the official strategy guide.[1]

It does not have a third person animation for "preparing" the flare, or placing it. It uses the standard grenade animation instead.

If the player cancels it while they are putting it down, they can still hear it clicking.

If the player were to look carefully, the words 'Golden Beard' can be seen over the words 'Emergency Flare', the latter of which is in a smaller font size.

It was originally going to be a Tier 3 Perk, as there is a image file in the PC game files named specialty_tactical_insert.iwi.

It can also be seen in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 teaser trailer.